Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Jake Spicer

Instagram / @jakespicer
Featured Artist / #115 ScrawlrBox 

My name is Jake Spicer. I love to draw, and whenever possible I help other people to draw more confidently and competently through the books I write and through online & in-person classes. I live in North Wales where I run the Mawddach Residency with my partner Scarlett while leading the online programme for the independent drawing school Draw Brighton which I founded in 2009. Alongside teaching I write books about drawing, and lecture on the importance of drawing as a tool for communication, art-making and as a vehicle for social good. My personal work is often figure focused and I’m currently developing a new body of drawings based around the costal folklore of Britain and Ireland.

First of all, thank you Jake for being a part of this ScrawlrBox. Truly an honour. Where did it all begin?

Thanks for asking me! I’ve always drawn; as a shy child it was a way of interacting with the world and as a teenager it gave me a focus. I now find drawing from observation an important way to connect to other people and to the world around me and I’ve been able to make it a full-time job!

What’s your favourite subject to draw

I always come back to people – by drawing other people we see shared human characteristics reflected back at us. It is a wonderful exchange, for a person to sit and pose for you while you draw from them.

You have an abundance of books you’ve put together, as well as articles and courses! Is it safe to assume you have a passion for teaching as a well as art?

Absolutely! Although I didn’t study art beyond Foundation level I was lucky to receive a lot of advice and tuition from generous artists, particularly the late etcher John T. Freeman, who taught me to draw. He always said that it was the responsibility of all artists to pass on what they know and I’ve always kept that in mind, teaching in parallel with my own artistic practice.

What’s your favourite thing about working with the Derwent Lightfast colouring pencils?

The security of knowing the full colour range is lightfast is the biggest positive for work that I’m exhibiting (meaning they are not susceptible to fading), otherwise I particularly enjoy the balance of softness and strength in the pencil cores – it suits my approach to drawing.

If we were to pick one of your many books, which one would you recommend we start with?

‘You Will be Able to Draw Faces by the End of This Book’ is one of my favourites, and one of the most accessible; I hope it does what it says on the cover! For anybody with a serious interest in drawing people ‘Figure Drawing’ is my most comprehensive book and the one that I am most proud of.

Is there another medium you love creating with?

I always come back to charcoal – working with compressed charcoal and an eraser on a big piece of paper is very freeing and as close as you can get to sculpting on a two dimensional surface.

Do you find creativity comes naturally to you or do you have to get yourself ‘in the zone

I have spent my adult life making drawing a habit – I draw almost every day as part of my relationship with the world, whether for art-making, or just to feel around thoughts on a piece of paper. I do find that I need to make a bit more time for myself to be in the right state of mind to make my best work, turning my phone and laptop off to allow me to draw without nagging distractions.

What is it about an art piece that holds your attention?

I look at too many paintings, prints and drawings on my phone, so whenever I can I try to see the work I love in real life; that’s where scale comes into play. Whether a picture is tiny, or fills a wall, is important to see it as a physical object in order to fully understand and appreciate it. That’s when an artwork really holds my attention – when I can stand in front of it.

Do you listen to music or podcasts while you create?

I struggle to work in silence so I often put on audio books, or listen to the dozens of playlists that I have made for past life drawing classes. I’m currently enjoying albums by Wolf Alice, The Mountain Goats and Wet Leg.